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History
The history of Ellorien can be divided into four great epochs: Creation, The Mythic Age, the Old Era and the New Era. The current setting begins 500 NE, or five hundred years after the end of the War of Living Bones and the founding of the kingdom of Estelle. Pre-History The planes of reality within which Ellorien rests, simply known as "El" in the Celestial language, were created by the chaotic primordial gods in the age of Creation. Into being came the lawful Celestial Gods of which Heli, Luna, and Gaea were the most eminent. A war between the primordial and celestial gods began. This war, known among the races of men as the Theomachy, caused the universe to be re-structured into a planar multiverse including the Outer Planes where the primordials and their servants were vanished. Into the new Primal plane, Gaea formed a world of her own essence- and life arose. Heli, Luna, and the other celestial gods each bestowed Gaea and her new world with blessings. The primordials, however, banished to the Outer Planes, swore to corrupt the new living creatures of Ellorien so that they would turn upon the celestials and betray them as the primordials themselves were betrayed. Mythic Age During the first Mythic Age, the world was composed of the supercontinent of Pangea ('''Treskri' in Draconic). There was no distinction between physical/material reality, no separate ephemeral or astral world. The first creatures were the spirits, embodiments of natural forces and concepts. Gaea then created the dragons, tasking them to serve as guardians to protect her realm from invasion from Outer Planes, especially the Abyssal and Infernal realms. Some of the dragons and spirit broods were successfully corrupted, fufilling the primordial's curse. Led by Tiamat, they turned against the Celestials and their own kind, beginning the Dracomachy. As a response, Gaea created the '''Elder Races' such as the Elves, Dwarves and Giants to help the good dragons defeat the chromatic dragons. The Dracomachy brought about the Sundering which tore the Primal plane apart to create prime material, the elemental, the astral, the ethereal planes as well as Feywild, Shadowfell and the Underdark. Pangea was shattered into continents and Gaea herself no longer communicated to the lesser celestials. Most of the ancient dragons on both sides of the schism were destroyed or banished from the prime material plane. Humans and the other Younger Races began to appear on the new continents in great numbers but they were easy prey to the spirit-gods of new New Planes who had been left unchecked during the Dracomachy. The Old Era The Age of Tolgalen or the Old Era (OE) lasted for approximately five thousand years and ended about five hundred years ago. The Elves & The Fey The Vaecaesini-irral 'or First Elves were beautiful and terrible, with magic that could rival the dragons. They had been one of the metallic dragons' greatest allies, but became bitter and cold following the Sundering. Rather than becoming a new generation of guardians to protect the Ellorien ("heart of creation in the Celestial language) from the Outer Planes or saving the younger races from the predation, they retreated to the new plane-realm of Arcorar, (the Feywild in common) following the end of the Dracomancy. Some of the Vaecaesini-irral abandoned the Feywild, however, to return to the world of ''Rûn (the Elvish name for Ellorien) at the start of the Old Era. Those who took up the cause of the metallic or good dragons became known as the álfar (elves). They settled primarily in the Mavre. Others, left the Feywild to dominate the Underdark by making allegiances with the chromatic dragons hiding there. They called themselves the ''dökkálfar ''(drow) and immediately began to plot against their former brethren in the Feywild. For their part, the '''Vaecaesini-irral viewed the younger races, especially the helpless humans, as nothing but playthings to be kidnapped into the Feywild and warped to their desires. Some of these human slaves, the Eladrin, sometimes escape back to Ellorien- or are sent by their dread masters to complete covert missions on their behalf. The Dwarves & the Giants During the Dracomacy, the Giants were shock troops, creatures of brute strength and limited intelligence. The dwarves were able to forge and wield weapons of incredible power, capable of harming a dragon. Formed of earth by Gaia, they were more heavily tied to the prime material plane than the elves. Never friendly to one another, their relationship turned to emnity at the start of the Old Era. The dwarves, who had claimed the mountains of the Northlands, forced the giants to retreat to the Northern Wastes. The giants swiftly fell under the sway of the remaining White Dragons, turning towards chaos and evil. The dwarves began to form distinct clans, all under the patronage of the lesser celestial Moradin. The Rise of the Orcs & Goblinoids Among the younger races which began to rapidly breed at the end of the Mythic Age were the orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, and kobolds. They were patronized by spirit-gods who used these new races to rise in power and influence. The orcs and goblins became quick enemies with one another, but also of the dwarves, elves, humans, halflings and gnomes. The Old Era was marked with multiple wars fought between the "monster races" of humanoids and the player races, the rise and falls of many clans and kingdoms. The First Wizards & The Dyēusi At the start of the Old Era, the younger races (humans, halflings, etc.,) were often subjugated or enslaved by the spirit-gods, the surviving chromatic dragons and other more powerful creatures. Five of the remaining metallic dragons, however, took it upon themselves to reach out to the most promising minds they could find among the younger races. In their dreams, the dragons taught these chosen disciples the fundamentals of magic and how to meet with them in the Astral Plane. All of the progenitor wizards were good by nature, but as they achieved power over time, many also fell prey to hubris. Some shifted in alignment, others simply made poor choices in who they took on as apprentices. The teachings of the dragons had brought about five schools of magic: Abjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Illusion and Transmutation. On their own, these first generations of wizards discovered Conjuration, Evocation and Necromancy. Many of the wizards became warped and twisted and began using their powers for evil. The five metallic dragons, outraged at the way their gift were abused, repudiated the wizards, slaying some before being brought down by others. Gadun: The Golden Empire Not all of the human wizards abandoned the lawful good ideals of the metallic dragons. Among those who remained faithful was Serius Bensvelki, who had used his powers to save his homeland from predation and found the city of Gadun. Under Serius' wise rule, Gadun began to quickly expand through the Old Era. He reigned for nearly a hundred years, able to extend his human lifetime by a few decades. His grandson, Spero Charis succeeded him. Spero was also lawful good, but those who followed and founded their own dynasties as the emperors and empresses of Gadun were not so moral. Overtime, Gadun became a more oppressive and militaristic culture who worshiped Heli, Luna, and the rest of the Celestial Court. Gadun and the elven kingdom of Nandë were for the most part uneasy neighbors, while Gadun conquered and annexed many human neighbors, and was at war with the nation of Basileia when it was usurped by the most diabolical wizard in Ellorien's history. The War of Living Bones The most powerful of the wizards, good and bad, created their own pocket realms within the Astral world, either allying with or enslaving creatures native to the Astral Plane. Within the timeless Astral Plane, these once mortal wizards evolved into the nine Dyēusi, antagonistic to each other, who control travel through the Astral to other planes. Their servant-apprentices, the Demiurges, are their chief means to interacting with worlds outside the Astral. At the close of Old Era, a half-elf demiruge calling himself Norvegi the Fleshcrafter made a horrific pact with the Lords of the Nine Hells and seized control of his home kingdom, which he renamed Thanatos. From there, through necromancy and demonology, Norvegi laid to waste the entire eastern half of the largest continent. As his foes died, he and the lesser necromancers who became his minions would raise them up as Undead. The clerics and wizards of Gadun & Nandë were able to repel him until Norvegi was able to transform the red dragon Nioralul into a dracolich in a ritual that led to the erruption of Septo's Forge, creating The Rupture which immediately laid waste to the borderlands of both nations while Nioralul flew directly at Gadun City, which swiftly fell. Norvegi marched his legion westward, stealing the life from the land itself. He tore across southern Nandë, battling a resistance led by a human paladin, Estelle the Lightforged, nephew of Gadun's last emperor. Norvegi had Estelle's forces under seige at Fort Stronghold when the gold dragon Nauissidera abruptly appeared, slaying Nioralul and turning the tide of the battle in Estelle's favor. A shepherd boy named Ley, who beheld the battle between the two dragons was blinded but had visions of Lumen, god of Light and became the founder of the Lumenary Church. The destruction of Norvegi and his Legion of the Damned served as the hallmark for the end of the Old Era. The New Era The New Era began five hundred years ago. Only a handful of living creatures (the eldest elves & drow, surviving dragons, etc.,) are so old as to remember the previous age. The War of Living Bones, which had ravaged the continent of Elenu, brought with it a Dark Age of economic and cultural deterioration following the collapse of so many Elder Race and Younger Race civilizations of which the player races of Ellorien are now emerging with humans, half-humans and lycans in nominal control of much of the Known World. The foundling nation of Estelle had several advantages of its neighbors to rapidly advance to become one of the most civilized nations. Estelle had fought valiantly to save the elves of Nandë and the survivors of that shattered kingdom were grateful and supported Estelle's kingship over the warlike human clans of the Western provinces. Several important clan chiefs were also among Estelle's allies and the young cleric Ley gained a substantial number of converts so that the kingdom and the Lumenary Church rose together in entwined power and influence. Scaburh, a magocratic city-state that had been spared the ravages of the War of Living Bones, was won over by Estelle and his queen and opened itself to him and the Lumenary Church becoming the Estelle's capital city. The dwarven kingdoms of the Northlands had likewise been spared the War of Living Bones, but during the first few centuries of the new era had been so besieged by orcs, hill giants, dvergr and a new brood of young white dragons that many ancient halls were lost. However, in 435 NE, Korun Blackbanner became the King of Nor Garom and was able to rally his people and drive the orcs out of the Dragonsback mountains. This enabled the Deeplager Trading Company to create trade routes with the elves of the Mavre and the humans of Estelle. The Known World The Known World, the core setting for Ellorien, is composed of the kingdom of Estelle and its neighbors. Future supplements will develop other regions. *History of Eshnanoris *History of Estelle *History of The Fringe *History of Nandë *History of Nok *History of the Northlands *History of Ucbrycg *History of Ujana